Gold Reserve to Appeal Delisting Notice from TSE

The Toronto Stock Exchange advised Gold Reserve Inc., which until recently controlled one of Venezuela's richest gold and copper mining prospects, that it does not meet the bourse's listing requirements since Caracas expropriated the mining prospect.

In 1992 Gold Reserve acquired and began developing Brisas, with ore reserves of 10.2 million ounces of gold and 1.4 billion pounds of copper. From 1992 to 2009, the company invested close to $300 million in acquisition, land exploration, development, equipment and engineering. In April 2008 the Hugo Chavez administration began revoking permits and taking other actions that effectively nationalized Brisas.

Trading in company shares will continue on the Toronto Stock Exchange for 30 days, during which time Gold Reserve has a right to appeal the decision. If that appeal fails, the U.S.-based company will seek a listing on another exchange, the company said late Thursday.

Gold Reserve, which remains listed on the NYSE-Amex under the terms of a continued listing agreement that was entered in October, said its international arbitration against the Republic of Venezuela regarding the illegal expropriation of its Venezuelan properties is proceeding well with the hearing scheduled for February 2012.

As of late 2011, Venezuela was fighting about 20 arbitration cases through the World Bank's International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes, Reuters said.